Dry Tortugas National Park

The Dry Tortugas National Park
The Dry Tortugas offers a variety of exciting activities and amazing scenery while providing a sense of history. Located on a remote island off the southernmost city in the United States, The Dry Tortugas is guaranteed to offer you a unique experience and plenty of stories to take back home. Let us plan your trip and make your new adventure as comfortable as possible.

Almost 70 miles (112.9 km) west of Key West lay a cluster of seven islands, composed of coral reefs and sand, called the Dry Tortugas. Along with the surrounding shoals and waters, they make up Dry Tortugas National Park.They area is known for its famous bird and marine life and its legends of pirates and sunken gold. Fort Jefferson, one of the largest coastal forts every built, is a central feature. To clear up some confusion, Dry Tortugas National Park is located inside Fort Jefferson, which sits on Garden Key.

There are two ways of arriving in style to this historic site, and numerous ways to enjoy the Dry Tortugas National Park.

The Dry Tortugas Ferry

The official Dry Tortugas Ferry is the Yankee Freedom III, and takes visitors to Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas National Park. This state of the art boat takes passengers at high speeds on a smooth sail to the park without a hitch. Guests upon the ferry will enjoy a complimentary breakfast that includes fresh bagels, doughnuts, fruit, orange juice, and coffee. The tours last almost 10 hours, so make sure you plan to have a full day set-aside for this. On the return trip home, the adults on board can enjoy their choice of alcoholic beverage, and kid can pick up some freshly popped popcorn, candy, or soft pretzels.

Dry Tortugas Seaplanes

Since the Dry Tortugas National Park is so far off the coast of Key West, some visitors take a seaplane to save a little time for other activities on their Key West vacation. This flight takes less than 45 minutes, and visitors can choose between a half-day tour or a full day. This flight gives the most unique views by flying at a low altitude over the shallow flats of the Keys, and visitors get the chance to see marine wildlife such as sea turtles, dolphins and sharks from above. The tour guides will provide guests with round-trip transportation, a 40-minute tour of Fort Jefferson, complimentary soft drinks, and snorkeling gear.

Camping

This amazing opportunity is extremely limited, so do not be surprised if you call to book, and there isn’t any camping available. These guided tours are limited to 3 tents and six campers are allowed per campsite. With this tour, you get an astonishingly secluded campsite, and see an amount of stars you never knew existed. The Dry Tortugas Camping will include snorkeling, swimming, breakfast and lunch (on arrival day only), and a 40-minute guided tour of Fort Jefferson.

Site Information

Welcome to the new Florida Wildlife special web site, a mapping and information project.

This web site was inspired by the members of the Wakodahatchee and Green Cay facebook group and the beginning locations are their favorite places to visit. This is a collaborative effort and your input is requested.

What you are seeing now is just the beginning of what I hope to become the number one web curation of super places you can expect to see and experience the wildlife in Florida.

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